About

About the Founder

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I am Nicholas Wanner, President and a board member of Wild Wings Conservancy. I grew up waterfowl hunting and spent most of my life outdoors. Birds matter to me because they bring sound and color back to a place. As I got older, podcasts on gamebirds kept pointing to the same problem: many populations are falling. Habitat loss, habitat that does not feed or cover birds, and insect decline are a large part of that.

I moved from Ohio to North Carolina in 2021. I live in Graham and work in Raleigh. This state can take you through several habitat regions in about six hours. I chose the Piedmont because suburban and urban growth is removing the small, wet, and brushy patches birds use, and because it still holds a wide mix of species. I want those 2–10 acre pockets kept in the middle of developing areas so nearby communities can be proud that a quiet refuge exists next to them, even if no one walks the land.

I will use my GIS training to map each site, keep a clear public record of the network, and help clarify how each refuge is managed. The refuges stay closed to hunting and public entry. Viewing is by camera and remote spotting. Legal hunting on other land is not the target of this work.

Large refuges matter, and they protect birds. Many of them, though, are one big block many miles from the next protected patch, or they are left as tall closed forest that serves only a narrow set of species. Many birds in trouble need low, thick, young growth: native grass, shrubs, briars, and wet edges with seed and insects. That structure once came from openings and young vegetation after cutting. A wall of mature trees with no understory feeds fewer of those species than people expect. Native prairie and open herbaceous cover also build deep, living soil through roots. That is one reason our sites will mix wet areas, food plants, and low cover instead of planting a closed woods and calling it done.

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How you can help

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A gift of $2 helps. That is about the price of a pack of gum or a piece of candy. Small gifts add up, and we will put them first toward land costs, then nest boxes, plants, posting, insurance, and initial operations.

We also need larger gifts to buy or close on the first parcels. If you own 2–10 acres in the Piedmont that stays wet all or part of the year and is not producing for you, please consider donating it. A gift of land to Wild Wings Conservancy becomes a charitable asset of the nonprofit, not private property. Under federal 501(c)(3) rules, that land cannot be taken private later. If this organization ever dissolves, the land must transfer to another 501(c)(3) with a similar conservation purpose. Donors who want stronger protection can place a conservation easement on the parcel so the habitat restriction stays in place even if title moves to another qualified nonprofit.

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Thank you for the help.